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New Road Screening Of The Lion King Is 2,700 Sell-OutTuesday, May 3rd, 2016

Worcestershire CCC's outdoor cinema event, The Lion King, is a 2,700 sell-out – and plans are already close to being finalised for a screening of another film classic at New Road in early August.

Commercial Director Jon Graham is surprised at the demand for tickets for the June 25 showing of the Lion King and admitted the County could have sold more.

But Graham said its success was another indication that New Road is an attractive venue for families – a section of the community that Worcestershire are targeting – if offered the right product.

And Graham is hoping families will be sufficiently impressed by their experiences on June 25 to return to the County – as cricket followers.

Graham said: "With the Lion King, it went down so well on social media, pretty much as soon as we announced it, and the ticket sales have been surprising.

"We actually felt that the 'Frozen' screening went okay last year, albeit when we didn't have as long to promote it as we have had for Lion King.

"This has been completely different. We probably could have sold some more tickets if I am being honest but we want to make sure the 2,700 people that do come have an enjoyable experience.

"We don't want people sat too far away from the screen because ultimately this is something we want to be doing a couple of times a year."

Graham added: "It is very much our objective to get families to New Road. Now whether that is for 50 over cricket, the Lion King, T20, a concert, doesn't really matter to us as long as we are getting families exposed to the venue.

"Ultimately if they are not cricket followers, then hopefully they will become cricket followers going forward. That is the objective.

"The fact we've got 2,700 people watching a film, it is a classic, just goes to show you don't necessarily have to put on the latest movies in the cinema.

"But if you've got a classic that resonates with the audience, they will certainly buy their tickets in droves.

"We are certainly looking forward to it and we will make sure we've got a few things set up on the day, hopefully a few photo opportuities for the kids.

"The Marquee and Graeme Hick Pavilion will be open. Drinks will be available. The one thing I would say is the gates will be open at 12 noon, there are a lot of people coming so I would strongly recommend you get there closer to 12 than 2.00 when the film starts."

The second outdoor cinema event will take place on August 6 with film details to be announced shortly.

Graham said: "The plan was always to have a second film. We were chucking around the idea of having three films but I think two is where we need to be, one just before the kids break up for summer and one in the summer holidays.

"We've got an agreement for a movie on August 6 which will be an animated classic. We threw around the idea of maybe doing a different type of film, maybe going for an older audience.

"But the one thing the Lion King has proved, this feels like this is definitely the audience we want to go after. Perhaps there is a gap in the market for families in the city centre on Saturday that want to do something a bit different.

"As long as we do the events to a high standard which we will, we don't want to overcrowd the diary. We just need to make sure we do it properly.

"We are looking forward to June 25 but we are also looking forward to August 6 as well.

"At the moment fundamentally we are a cricket club. We have got the T20 Blast starting on May 20. We want to make sure we are really active in promoting that, making sure people know when the fixtures are.

"But after that, then we will look to get the second cinema event on show and promoted and try and give it two and a half months beforehand and we will look to release details in the next couple of weeks."